First, one cannot help but compare President George
W. Bush's tribute to the Columbia crew to those of President
Ronald Reagan's of the Challenger crew 17 years ago.
For those who doubt why Reagan was called "The Great
Communicator" and why George W. Bush will not be,
need only to watch and compare these two similar rhetorical
efforts.

The president's "remarks" were disappointing in many ways. I'll
offer three short observations here:

1) His words were "remarks" not a "tribute" or
an "address to the nation." Though he and his
team had several hours to prepare a more poetic tribute,
Bush instead opted for a brief, matter-of-fact, discourse
that wasn't even delivered in prime-time. Bush has been
so consumed with adopting an unflinching commander-in
chief role, that he had real difficulty in adopting the
role of comforter-in-chief in these non-military circumstances.
Both verbally and nonverbally, Bush strove to show resolve,
not sadness; strength not vulnerability; pragmatism not
poetic flourish. With the exception of two lines (the
words from the prophet Isaiah and the last line: "The
crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to
Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home.")
the speech is quite forgettable.

2) The visual backdrop was stark and impersonal. For
a president so consumed by imagery and packaging (where
was Rove?), the staid, sterile backdrop did nothing to
humanize his remarks.(Compare the rich, comforting visual
backdrop in Reagan's Challenger address.)

3) The expectations of the occasion were not met. The
7 astronauts who perished were not humanized, nor valorized
properly. ("On board was a crew of seven" is
our first introduction to them.) While the names of each
are mentioned, no positive descriptor (compare to Reagan's
use of the word "pioneers") is attached to
them. There are peculiar lines and short paragraphs that
don't connect too. See all of paragraph 5 which begins: "The
cause in which they died will continue" as one of
the worst examples.

Granted, President Bush and the nation as a whole have
been suffering from crisis fatigue, and especially after
9-11, we may be less inclined to feel the loss of the
Columbia crew as intensely, but that should not excuse
the president from playing the many roles he must play
with care, passion, and rhetorical excellence.